Chris Pickering EDC 430 Teaching Inspiration 9/19/2011
My decision to become a teacher has been influenced by many factors in my life. Whether it is from experiences I encounter from everyday life, family influences, or influences from my childhood, many factors have been taken into account in my career decision. The three most influential people in my decision have been my parents, who are teachers, my little league baseball coach, Randy Hein, and my favorite science teacher in high school Mrs. Van. These people have had a great impact in my life and if it were not for them, I could be going down career path.
The first people who impacted my decision to become a teacher were my parents. My mother is a middle school reading teacher and deals mostly with kids who have some sort of special needs or reading disabilities. She teaches in Pawtucket, RI, which is a very urban and diverse community. She works with many children who struggle with the English language and helps them further their reading abilities. When she comes home from work, all she can talk about is her day and her students. She absolutely loves what she does and the rewarding look on her face after a long day at work is all the inspiration I needed. My father, taught at an elementary school in Wrentham, MA, which is a completely different community than Pawtucket. It is a much wealthier community, and much less diverse. When I was in High School, I did a job shadow on my dad and this was one of the defining moments in my life. I will always remember the joy on the students face when they took a field trip down to a local pond to look at fish, salamanders, frogs, and much other wildlife. The students were running around, having a blast, while getting their work done at the same time. My dad was laughing and smiling the entire day and you could tell he genuinely loved his job. He retired last fall after teaching for over 30 years, and to stick with one career, and one grade level (5th Grade) for over 30 years, it has to be something that you love.
My next inspiration for teaching, and probably my greatest influence in many factors of my life, is my Little League coach, Randy Hein. Randy was the guy that everyone in the community knew. He treated everybody with the same respect and same generosity, no matter who it was. On the baseball field, Randy was the best teacher of the game that I had ever seen. He had an excellent way of connecting with kids. He would incorporate fun into the game, and made it exciting to come to practice each and every day. This passion is something that I would like to have in the classroom. It is extremely important and makes the classroom environment one that is fun, exciting, and positive. There was never a down day with Randy. He was always the same upbeat person each and every day and it is what starting my love for baseball and my love for teaching.
My third and final influence was one of my high school science teachers, Mrs. Van. Mrs. Van taught my biology class in 10th grade and my chemistry class in 11th grade. In 12th grade I took a class where I was a teaching assistant for one of her freshman classes. The class that I took in 12th grade really helped me decide that I wanted to be a teacher. I had always loved Mrs. Van, and her classes were always the ones that I would look forward to going to every day. Actually helping her out in one of her classes allowed me to see the passion that she put into her work each and every day. The thing that amazed me most about her was her ability to connect and build relationships with each and every one of her students. Students would come see her after school just to talk. Former students would pop in to say hello every day. It was amazing the impact that she had on so many different people.
Making the decision to become a teacher was not an easy one and was a long journey. I started my college career wanting to become a physical therapist and spent over one year in that program. Being in P.T. made me realize that I really liked working with people and teaching them the different exercises, but I did not like the medical part of it. Based on the different influences in my life it was a pretty obvious switch to go to teaching. I would be able to still work with people, I could still teach them what I gained from college, and I could teach something I enjoyed like biology and not have to deal with all that medical terminology. These three groups of people were not the only people that inspired my career choice, but they certainly had the greatest impact and I would not be where I am today without them.
5/5 Nicely done, Christopher. Well organized, coherent, and detailed.- fogleman Sep 25, 2011
Teaching Inspiration 9/19/2011
My decision to become a teacher has been influenced by many factors in my life. Whether it is from experiences I encounter from everyday life, family influences, or influences from my childhood, many factors have been taken into account in my career decision. The three most influential people in my decision have been my parents, who are teachers, my little league baseball coach, Randy Hein, and my favorite science teacher in high school Mrs. Van. These people have had a great impact in my life and if it were not for them, I could be going down career path.
The first people who impacted my decision to become a teacher were my parents. My mother is a middle school reading teacher and deals mostly with kids who have some sort of special needs or reading disabilities. She teaches in Pawtucket, RI, which is a very urban and diverse community. She works with many children who struggle with the English language and helps them further their reading abilities. When she comes home from work, all she can talk about is her day and her students. She absolutely loves what she does and the rewarding look on her face after a long day at work is all the inspiration I needed. My father, taught at an elementary school in Wrentham, MA, which is a completely different community than Pawtucket. It is a much wealthier community, and much less diverse. When I was in High School, I did a job shadow on my dad and this was one of the defining moments in my life. I will always remember the joy on the students face when they took a field trip down to a local pond to look at fish, salamanders, frogs, and much other wildlife. The students were running around, having a blast, while getting their work done at the same time. My dad was laughing and smiling the entire day and you could tell he genuinely loved his job. He retired last fall after teaching for over 30 years, and to stick with one career, and one grade level (5th Grade) for over 30 years, it has to be something that you love.
My next inspiration for teaching, and probably my greatest influence in many factors of my life, is my Little League coach, Randy Hein. Randy was the guy that everyone in the community knew. He treated everybody with the same respect and same generosity, no matter who it was. On the baseball field, Randy was the best teacher of the game that I had ever seen. He had an excellent way of connecting with kids. He would incorporate fun into the game, and made it exciting to come to practice each and every day. This passion is something that I would like to have in the classroom. It is extremely important and makes the classroom environment one that is fun, exciting, and positive. There was never a down day with Randy. He was always the same upbeat person each and every day and it is what starting my love for baseball and my love for teaching.
My third and final influence was one of my high school science teachers, Mrs. Van. Mrs. Van taught my biology class in 10th grade and my chemistry class in 11th grade. In 12th grade I took a class where I was a teaching assistant for one of her freshman classes. The class that I took in 12th grade really helped me decide that I wanted to be a teacher. I had always loved Mrs. Van, and her classes were always the ones that I would look forward to going to every day. Actually helping her out in one of her classes allowed me to see the passion that she put into her work each and every day. The thing that amazed me most about her was her ability to connect and build relationships with each and every one of her students. Students would come see her after school just to talk. Former students would pop in to say hello every day. It was amazing the impact that she had on so many different people.
Making the decision to become a teacher was not an easy one and was a long journey. I started my college career wanting to become a physical therapist and spent over one year in that program. Being in P.T. made me realize that I really liked working with people and teaching them the different exercises, but I did not like the medical part of it. Based on the different influences in my life it was a pretty obvious switch to go to teaching. I would be able to still work with people, I could still teach them what I gained from college, and I could teach something I enjoyed like biology and not have to deal with all that medical terminology. These three groups of people were not the only people that inspired my career choice, but they certainly had the greatest impact and I would not be where I am today without them.
5/5 Nicely done, Christopher. Well organized, coherent, and detailed.-